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EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

ASSEMBLÉE PARLEMENTAIRE EURONEST

PARLAMENTARISCHE VERSAMMLUNG EURONEST

ПАРЛАМЕНТСКАЯ AССАМБЛЕЯ ЕВРОНЕСТ

Plenary session

1.11.2017

RESOLUTIONon ensuring media freedom and integrity in the EU and Eastern Europeanpartner states

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Resolution by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly on ensuring media freedom andintegrity in the EU and Eastern European partner states

The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly,

– having regard to the Constituent Act of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly of 3 May2011,

– having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit held in Rigaon 21 and 22 May 2015,

– having regard to Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Unionand to Article 10 of the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR), as well as tothe relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights,

– having regard to the Association Agreements between the EU on the one hand andGeorgia, Moldova and Ukraine on the other, in particular the provisions for cooperationon media, covering audiovisual policy and the training of journalists and other mediaworkers,

– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 23 November 2016 on EUstrategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties1,

– having regard to the regular reports on media freedom developments in the OSCEregion presented by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media to the OSCEPermanent Council,

– having regard to the Joint Staff Working Document of the Commission and the ExternalEuropean Action Service (EEAS) of 15 December 2016 entitled ‘Eastern Partnership –Focusing on key priorities and deliverables’,

– having regard to the Joint Staff Working Document of the Commission and the EEASof 9 June 2017 entitled ‘Eastern Partnership – 20 Deliverables for 2020 focusing on keypriorities and tangible results’,

– having regard to the initialled EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced PartnershipAgreement, to be signed in Brussels in November 2017,

– having regard to the reports by well-known international journalists’ organisations,

A. whereas the Eastern Partnership is based on commitment to the principles ofinternational law and to fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law andrespect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

B. whereas, during the 2015 Riga Eastern Partnership Summit, all participants underlinedthe important role that media play in democratic society and confirmed their continued

1 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0441.

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support for media freedom, under Article 16 of the Joint Declaration;

C. whereas protection of press freedom is provided within the framework of the Council ofEurope, on the basis of the ECHR; whereas media freedom issues are a central part ofthe whole set of democratic and legal reforms implemented by Eastern Partnershipcountries and are therefore of high relevance in the political dialogue between the EUand its partners;

D. whereas EU Member States and partner countries face, at different levels, challengesand problems in the fields of media freedom and the print and digital media economy;whereas common concerns include inadequate legislation, inappropriate use of counter-terrorist legislation, concentration of media ownership, the holding of economicallydominant positions in media markets, political elites’ intolerance of criticism,undemocratic and politically motivated control and regulation of information space,restrictions on pluralism, and as limitations on and obstruction of freedom of expressionin internet media;

E. whereas under the European Neighbourhood Instrument for 2014-2020 the EU aims toenhance media cooperation with its Eastern European partners and earmarks funding forthat purpose; whereas the EU has funded a number of projects to this end, in particularprojects aiming to improve media law, monitor the situation of freedom of expressionand access to information, and help improve the professional skills of media workers;whereas a well-functioning media environment, based on the principles of plurality andindependence, is one of the prerequisites for democratic, stable, prosperous and resilientsocieties;

F. whereas, in line with Article 10.2 of the ECHR, the exercise of freedom of expressioncarries with it duties and responsibilities and may be subject to formalities, conditions,restrictions or penalties, as prescribed by law; whereas such a legal framework isnecessary in a democratic society as a means of preventing crime and disorder,protecting health and morals, protecting the rights and reputation of others, preventingthe disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority andimpartiality of the judiciary and safeguarding the interests of national security,fundamental rights, territorial integrity and public safety; whereas, however, suchlimitations must apply only where they are absolutely necessary, and the measures takenmust be proportionate; whereas no measure taken with the purpose of shielding agovernment or institution from criticism should be deemed legitimate;

G. whereas crackdowns on, and violence targeting, journalists, media workers andbloggers, including murder, kidnapping, assault, arbitrary detention, intimidation,harassment and the confiscation of equipment, as well as impunity for such crimes, posea major threat to media freedom; whereas the physical safety of journalists in Easternpartnership countries has become more problematic in recent years, in particular inregions affected by conflict;

H. whereas violence serving to silence dissident and uncomfortable views, includingterrible crimes such as contract murders and kidnappings of journalists, which have hada shocking impact on media communities, threatens basic European freedoms andgreatly damages media freedom by discouraging free expression, not least by inducing

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self-censorship; whereas, by way of examples, the terrorist attack on the offices of thesatirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015 and the killing of television journalistPavel Sheremet in Kyiv in 2016 had a shocking impact on media communities andcaused waves of indignation worldwide;

I. whereas cooperation with international journalists’ organisations, donation support fromvarious foundations, and recommendations and commitments made in relation to themembership commitments of the Eastern Partnership countries to both the OSCE andthe Council of Europe, have played a positive role in advancing media freedom anddeveloping modern mass media in partner countries; whereas initiatives to enhanceprofessionalism in journalism, ensure proper education for media workers and improvethe instruments of media self-regulation in order to make them suitably operative canalso contribute to the effort to build more democratic societies based on greater civicparticipation and respect for the rule of law;

J. whereas the promotion of investigative journalism is a useful way of improving goodgovernance and fighting corruption; whereas, on the other hand, widespread corruptionand persistent deficiencies in the rule of law have a negative impact on the mediaenvironment, undermining the credibility of media actors and preventing them fromproviding factual information and detached analysis;

K. whereas the development of the digital economy brings with it an untapped potential forsocial and economic development, as well as for the creation of growth and jobs inmedia sectors in the EU and the partner countries; whereas challenges arising in thecourse of efforts to harmonise digital markets should be addressed jointly by the EU andthe Eastern Partnership countries;

L. whereas national authorities face difficulties in controlling the widespread presence onthe internet of illegal content, such as terrorist propaganda, racist and xenophobicmaterial, hate speech, sexually explicit material and incitement to violence,discrimination or hostility; whereas libel and defamation laws are already applicable tothis sector; whereas there is now an intensive debate over the need to regulate socialmedia further;

M. whereas Russian state-controlled media outlets have engaged in a systematic campaignof disinformation and propaganda across the European continent, aiming to undermineEuropean values, manipulate public opinion and interfere in the domestic policies of EUMember States and partner countries; whereas, in response to this, the EU has adoptedan Action Plan on Strategic Communication and, as part of this initiative, has set up theEU Strategic Communication Task Force;

N. whereas proper media education and training in digital skills empower citizens toanalyse media with a critical eye and identify propaganda and fake news;

O. whereas the document ‘20 Deliverables for 2020’ identifies concrete and tangibleresults for citizens on the basis of already existing commitments on the part of both theEU and the Eastern Partnership countries, including in the area of strategiccommunication and support for independent media;

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Pursuing engagement in media freedom, integrity and pluralism, and counteringnegative trends

1. Reaffirms that states have the primary duty to ensure freedom of opinion andexpression, and that media freedom and freedom of expression are fundamental rightsthat need to be promoted and protected in a democratic society; calls on the EUinstitutions and partner country governments to continue to engage in political dialogueon democratic and human rights issues, with priority given to those pertaining to mediafreedom, integrity, pluralism and the right of access to information; welcomes, in thisregard, endeavours in partner countries to protect freedom of expression and toguarantee media freedom;

2. Expresses its support for a vibrant media environment that allows information andopinions of all kinds to be shared, based on a balanced mix of public and private mediaoutlets and including digital broadcasting services, social networks and online tools fordisseminating information;

3. Condemns acts of violence against, and intimidation of, journalists as major threats tomedia freedom; calls on the Member States and partner countries to guarantee the safetyand independence of journalists and to make sure that legal instruments, includingcriminal investigations and prosecutions, are not misused in order to hinder journalistsfrom working freely, or to intimidate or influence them; notes with regret thatinvestigations and prosecutions of attacks on journalists are often slow and inadequate,if not totally inconclusive; points out that the executive and judicial powers share theresponsibility of maintaining respect for media freedom and integrity and of avoidingimpunity for criminal attacks and offences targeting journalists;

4. Calls for enhanced cooperation in the area of, and specific programmes for the trainingof security forces on, human rights, freedom of expression and the safety of journalists;considers that the term ‘journalist’ should be understood in a broader sense, to includebloggers; encourages the EU to strengthen its support for journalists’ and mediaprofessionals’ organisations in the Member States and partner countries;

5. Draws attention to the threats posed by the concentration of private media assets in thehands of a few owners; notes that horizontal concentration hampers media pluralism,while vertical concentration prevents new competitors from entering media markets;takes the view that the national authorities responsible for media market regulationshould monitor such concentration processes closely and, where necessary, decide onmeasures or sanctions to prevent actions that create dominant positions or restrictpluralism;

6. Calls on the EU and its partner countries to ensure that national minorities have accessto information in their mother tongues;

7. Is concerned at the risk of public and private media, including broadcasters, beingconstrained or influenced to further governments’ political interests; calls ongovernments to refrain from interfering with or seeking to influence the editorial policyof public media, and to provide for transparency of private media ownership;recommends, to this end, that registries of data on direct and cross-border owners and

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beneficiaries of media interests be created and maintained at national level and madeaccessible to the public;

8. Supports the protection and confidentiality of sources as a right accorded to journalistsand recognised in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights; considers thatattempts to intimidate journalists into identifying their sources, including by judicialmeans, clash with the media’s role of engaging in investigative reporting on matters ofpublic interest, such as cases of crime, corruption or public wrongdoing;

9. Calls on a number of Member States and partner countries to reform their media laws inthe light of international law, so as to ensure that they are not in breach of fundamentalfreedoms; urges the governments concerned to consider introducing changes to theirmedia legislation, on the basis of sound objectives and of the outcomes of theconsultations of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission;

10. Considers that any new anti-terrorism legislation proposed in response to the recentwave of terrorist attacks in Europe should be formulated in such a way as to balance theneed to strengthen national security with the need not to restrict freedom of expressionor introduce media censorship; condemns the abuse of judicial power for the purpose ofrestricting media freedom; takes the view that any limitation of free expression in thename of decency or the protection of privacy should apply equally to all types of mediaand that, on this basis, on-line information available through the internet should not besubject to discriminatory legal restrictions; condemns any politically motivated use bymedia of images of people being injured or killed;

11. Calls on the Commission to make full use of all existing mechanism under the EuropeanNeighbourhood Instrument, in particular the Eastern Partnership Media FreedomWatch, in order to support media freedom in partner countries;

12. Takes note of various EU initiatives, including the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM),that are aimed at identifying potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States;encourages the national authorities of partner countries, in particular those associatedwith the EU, to join such initiatives;

Media law – improving the economic and legal frameworks in which media operate

13. Takes the view that media law should primarily focus on guarantees and conditions thatensure the exercise of media activity in accordance with fundamental freedoms andwithout limitations on the independence of media; considers that regulation of mediamarkets should also serve the interests of citizens, and specifically the right to freeexpression and the right of access to information, by securing the economicsustainability of media; believes, furthermore, that the independence of the broadcastingmedia is best served when it is regulated by an independent body;

14. Stresses that public media should remain impartial and should not be subject to politicalcontrol by governments or serve as a propaganda channel for them;

15. Welcomes the cooperation projects launched under the Eastern Partnership aimed atstrengthening independent media, professional reporting standards and journalism

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ethics, involving in particular journalism training and networking activities; underlinesthat partner countries need to make more effective use of EU programmes of relevanceto the media sector; calls for more cooperation and twinning in the media sector, and forsuch collaboration to be extended to include issues of relevance to the development ofprofitable digital media platforms;

16. Recommends that both MEPs and national parliamentarians in the Member States andthe partner countries step up exchanges of expertise and experience with a view todrafting, amending and adopting legislation on media issues; welcomes the valuableassistance provided by the Council of Europe to partner country legislators with the taskof reforming media legislation;

17. Expresses its concern over the use of social media for disseminating hate speech andinciting violence, and encourages the Member States and the Eastern Partnershipcountries to adapt and update their legislation so as to ensure that ongoing digitaldevelopments are kept within the bounds of the law; considers that collaboration withonline platforms and leading media companies is crucial;

18. Urges the competent national authorities in the EU and partner countries to organisepublic dialogues on new laws with a direct bearing on freedom of expression andfreedom of the media, and to include civil society and consult professional mediaorganisations as part of the drafting process;

19. Supports the principle of legislative reforms aimed at establishing or strengthening fairand unbiased competition in media markets and of rejecting concentration processes andstate ownership of, or dominance over, media sectors, including in the form ofpublishing capacity and distribution networks; recommends the drafting of legislationensuring transparent media ownership structures and funding instruments; recommendsthat laws governing the audiovisual media sector should limit the opportunities formonopolies to emerge though ownership of multiple over-the-air broadcasting licensesby a single physical person or legal entity;

20. Calls on the Commission and the Eastern Partnership governments to cooperate informulating new measures to promote transnational cooperation and alliances betweenprint and digital media in the EU and among its neighbours, with a view to supportingthe production of information content of quality and promoting linguistic diversity;

21. Supports changes to partner countries’ defamation laws that provide for the abolition ofcriminal defamation and set reasonable limits to compensation for moral harm;

Building public trust in the media and in the professionalism of journalists

22. Welcomes the significant efforts made by the EU and the partner countries to ensure thepreservation and development of responsible and quality journalism, support media self-regulation systems, promote ethical standards for journalism and develop professionaleducational opportunities for journalists;

23. Notes, however, that public confidence in the media remains low, and highlights theimportance of media literacy, transparency regarding the economic links between media

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and political and economic circles, the development of professional ethics amongjournalists and the quality of media content, as key factors determining the level ofcitizens’ trust; recommends that further efforts be made to develop training andmentoring schemes for young journalists and that more visibility be given to prizes foryoung media professionals awarded under the framework of the Eastern Partnership;

24. Urges journalists’ professional associations to raise public awareness regarding caseswhere journalists or media publishers have acted in ways that are in blatantlycontradiction of their moral responsibility;

Enhancing cooperation in measures to counter propaganda under the EasterPartnership, on a basis of full respect for human rights and freedom of expression

25. Condemns policies of propaganda and disinformation, as well as policies ofconfrontation, which may incite violence and hatred and may also foster intolerance anddiscrimination;

26. Denounces the Russian Government’s policy of seeking to influence public opinionacross the European continent, discredit the EU and create divisions among the MemberStates and the Eastern Partnership countries by using state-controlled Russian mediaoutlets to generate streams of fake news and distorted facts;

27. Calls on the competent authorities of the EU institutions, the Member States and thepartner countries to take all necessary measures to mitigate the risks mentioned aboveand to protect their respective media from cyber attacks or hacking operations; stressesthe need for careful monitoring of the exposure of media in EU and partner countries tooutside pressures; is deeply concerned, however, regarding certain kinds of extrememeasure, such as the closure or blockage of particular TV channels and websites or theunfounded denial of access to journalists;

28. Welcomes the EU Action Plan on Strategic Communication and the fact that theCommission and the EEAS have singled out a better, clearer, tailor-made strategiccommunication as one of the twenty key priorities of the Eastern Partnershipframework, to be presented at the forthcoming summit in November 2017;

29. Stresses that these efforts must be pursued on a basis of full respect for human rightsand freedom of expression; recommends, therefore, placing the focus on improving theresilience of media to propaganda and outside pressures and on developing instrumentsfor identifying manipulative communication content; takes the view that the best way tocounter propaganda is to promote fact-based, high-quality information;

30. Supports initiatives to create EU-funded transnational networks of fact-checkers,investigative journalists and researchers to scrutinise hostile attempts to influence publicopinion, thereby providing policymakers with factual bases for responses to hostiledisinformation;

31. Supports non-governmental watchdog organisations in the EU and partner countries thatpromote critical thinking and digital and media literacy, and that counter the spread ofconspiracy theories and disinformation;

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32. Calls on the EU to provide strong, clear and tailor-made strategic communicationsaimed at increasing the understanding and credibility of the EU among citizens acrossthe Eastern Partnership, and of the Eastern Partnership among EU citizens;

33. Strongly condemns the kidnapping, ill-treatment and killing of journalists in conflict-affected zones and in the territories of Ukraine under illegal occupation (Crimea andcertain parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions); underlines the need to end impunityfor crimes against journalists and to bring those responsible to justice;

34. Calls on the partner countries to introduce programmes to support media plurality andindependence in order to ensure people’s access to information and increase publicsupport for the EU;

35. Notes that each Eastern Partnership country faces specific challenges and that a specificassessment of each country would make the implementation of the report moreeffective;

36. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the President of the EuropeanParliament, the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / HighRepresentative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commissionerresponsible for European Neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations, theEuropean External Action Service, and the governments and parliaments of the EUMember States and the Eastern Partnership countries.